Flying Ants

Flying Ants

A highly effective pattern that's a snap to tie

A quick and easy dryfly pattern for most fly tiers is an ant. The two colors you'll need are black and cinnamon in sizes from 22 to 14. Every serious fly fisher/fly tier should carry a selection of ants in their fly box at the first sign of new leaves on trees and bushes. The tender leaves attract aphids that leave sweet droppings that ants love to sip. It's also a signal that there will soon be a flying ant fall-and you'd better have some matching flies with you because, as much as trout love to eat ants, they seem to go nuts over flying ants.

I say ants are "quick and easy" because there are only two pieces of material and just three parts to the fly. The best wing material I have found for flying ants is that strip of waffle-like imprint next to the closure strip on a Glad Lock bag. Cut this portion from the bag, remove the ends, cut the remainder into strips with widths equal to the gap of the hook you're using, and you have winging material that can be seen at a distance of 20 to 40 feet. All those little square indentations in the plastic reflect light and the curved wing traps a little bubble of air.